Heurigen, again

Posted on November 6, 2011 by admin

We’ve tried out a heurigen (a Viennese wine tavern) before. We’ve been intrigued by the idea since we first saw the concept recommended on the Rick Steves episode about Vienna — in theory, they’re small restaurants (often buffet style) attached to micro-vineyards located within the city of Vienna. They are only allowed to sell the wine that is produced by the vineyard associated with the heurigen (again, in theory — I’ve read that this is usually, but not always, the case, although that is part of the historical context for them). The originally developed as a way for the vintners to showcase their wines, the young wines in particular (which is a Viennese thing), without paying tax on the sales. Generally, the wines are good, and the food is ok, but the setting can be beautiful — a cozy outdoor courtyard with live music, a set of picnic benches with a great view, a warm dining room with candles and a lot of ambiance. (There’s a lot of variation, of course, but this is the general idea.) They’re very popular with both tourists and locals — last time we went to a more touristy one, this time we wanted to try one that catered to locals.

We met our friend, Krishana, for lunch today at Heuriger Wieninger, a heurigen I had read good things about, in the 21st district. It was a long Strassenbahn ride for us (nearly an hour) but we found success. It definitely catered more to locals than tourists — no one spoke English to us the entire time we were there (I don’t doubt that they could have, but it’s a sign of how far outside of the tourist track we were that they didn’t snap into English, even when we struggled a little). The food was quite good. The wine was amazing (I had an Orange Cinnamon Prosecco). Benjamin and Liam both enjoyed the food (no wine for them) and running around in the pretty courtyard.

I love the idea of the heurigen, and so far, we’ve enjoyed all of our visits. I really had fun being a bit further off of the beaten path this time. Every time I explore a piece of Vienna that I wouldn’t have seen if I’d just been here for vacation, I feel more at home here, more connected to this place. My next project — a heurigen with a great view. I’ve heard there are some which are really remarkable, so that’ll be next.

Austrian clothes

Posted on November 5, 2011 by admin

I’ve been meaning to do some clothes shopping here in Vienna. I don’t really have a lot of warm winter clothes that I love (and a few of the things I intended to bring got put into storage by mistake). And, it can be really hard, as a mom, to not feel frumpy most of the time — I make sure I get a shower and brush my hair every day, but some days, that’s it. There isn’t always a lot of time or opportunity for putting together a fantastic outfit, and I don’t really have the clothes to do it now, even when I am so inclined. The people here are generally really well put together in terms of fashion and personal appearance, and it’s inspiring — I don’t need to look like I walked off the pages of a fashion magazine every time I leave the house (which is good, because that isn’t going to happen) but I’ve been wanting to make some changes. It would just be nice to have a few good outfits to go to — at least a few that I know look good on me and that look good togther.

So, I went shopping today. I went to a place that I walk by all the time. They have beautiful sweaters, scarves, jackets and hats in the windows, and the window displays are always beautiful — everything is very classically Austrian (without being “traditional” Austrian clothing, which is something else entirely). It was a little daunting — not only am I not the size I’d like to be right now (making it harder to find things that don’t contribute to the frumpiness) but, in what seems to be very typical of shops here, they only have one of each thing in each color in each size. So, if the one you like in your size has been sold, that’s it — they don’t have it. There isn’t a big store room in the back with dozens of the same thing. With a little perseverance, though, and a lot of help from my sweet and English speaking salesperson, I was able to find quite a few things that I’m very excited about.

Later, I took Benjamin to another shop buy a hat and a new set of gloves. (We want a set to leave for him at school so he has them to wear when he goes to play in the garden even if we forget them for his trip to school.) Finding a hat for a 3 year old is not easy, made more challenging by the fact that he’d really rather the shopping trip not be successful at all — Benjamin would probably be happiest if he never had to wear a hat or gloves, ever again. We were looking through the hats, trying to find one that fit. I picked one out (with reindeer on it!) for him to try. The saleswoman thought it would probably be too big, but I wanted him to try it anyway, just to see how cute it was. Well, it was too big, but he loved it. As soon as it went on, he decided it was the one he wanted, and he refused to take it off. He actually turned around and tried to walk out of the store — not just without paying for it, but without me. He got a little distressed when the saleswoman took it back to remove the tags, but was mollified when she let him stand behind the counter for the transaction (at this point he was wearing his new hat again, too, which helped).

He wore his hat around for most of the rest of the day (even though it was warm in Vienna today). He couldn’t wait to show it to his Grandma on our Skype — he’s very excited about it. I understand. Both Benjamin and I have exciting new Austrian things to wear, which is good. It’s always nice to have new things to wear that you feel good about.

The modern day pocket watch

Posted on November 4, 2011 by admin

I see it all the time — people hurrying down the street, riding on the train, sitting in a cafe, having a meal, having a conversation, playing with their kids. They sneak a quick peek at their cell phone — too fast to be checking a message: they’re checking the time.

Once I noticed it, I see it all the time, and it’s really pretty funny. We’ve replaced pocket watches with wrist watches and replaced wrist watches with cell phones as timepieces. When we need to know the time, or when we’re asked, we reach into our pocket, pull out our fancy digital pocket watch, click the button on the side to turn it on and peer down. (All that’s missing, really, is the chain attaching it to our pocket — which actually would be a useful feature.)

Dan and I often laugh between ourselves at how much we take the computing power in our pocket for granted. When one of us is grumbling about how “slow” or “frustrating” our phone is, the other will remark, “Oh, yes, the supercomputer/phone/camera/internet access in my pocket is just not fast enough for me!” The ease and seamless integration of this kind of technology into our lives is something that would have been astounding (to the point of seeming magical) to us only 15 years ago or so, and now we carry these devices around with us everywhere we go. I sure do like my fancy pocket watch.

I want to be a firefighter

Posted on November 3, 2011 by admin

Actually, I have no desire to be a firefighter — I’m nearly pyrophobic. As a child, I used to lie awake at night worrying about the possibility of my house burning down while I slept, was petrified of any open flame (including birthday candles) and actually had to be personally escorted out of the classroom, by the teacher, every time we had a fire drill.

I’ve gotten over it to some extent. I can handle birthday candles and fires in fireplaces pretty well, at least.

But tonight, at dinner, Benjamin announced the inevitable: that he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up. And Liam can be his baby firefighter and help him and ride in the back of the truck. And he might get a Dalmatian to ride on his red firetruck. And his friends can be firefighters, too, but they’ll be firefighters at the airport and use the green fire truck.

I know we’ll most likely go through many life ambitions over the course of his lifetime (I’m still coming up with new ones for myself) but there’s something very sweet about this one. As his protective mother, I hope he chooses something else. But, when he told me, I responded (sincerely) that I will be happy with him being whatever he wants to be when he grows up. Right now, I’m just happy with him being Benjamin, and I’m so glad he’s still little.

A free cookie

Posted on November 2, 2011 by admin

Yesterday evening, I took Benjamin out for some “B & Mommy” time. I usually go out, twice a week, on my own, for an hour, to get a cup of coffee. Lately, when I go, he’s been asking to go with me. I’ve been planning to do more things, just he & I — now that he’s in school, it’s rare for us to spend some time together when I’m not also wrestling Liam. So, yesterday, we went together.

We went to my usual Starbucks for “coffee” (I told him he could either have hot chocolate or warm milk). I walked, he rode his bike. He was so excited to go out in the dark on his bike, and to go with me to get coffee. We had a really nice trip over, and when we were in line, and B was debating his options, he caught sight of the cookies in the case. He decided that rather than warm milk or hot chocolate, he’d really rather have a cookie. When it was our turn to order, I asked for his cookie, and the manager, who was standing beside us, leaned over the counter and whispered something to our order taker. Then he turned to us, “I think, since yesterday was Halloween, we’re going to give you that cookie for free.” Benjamin was pretty excited (even though he has no real financial stake in his cookie supply). I thanked the manager, and so did Benjamin. He replied, “No problem. Besides, you’re in here almost every day.”

In my defence, I’m really not in there every day. I go in twice a week, that’s it. (I swear.) But, to a Starbucks crew in the center of the tourist section of Vienna, I imagine that an English speaker (trying to be a German speaker) who comes in regularly over the course of six months is pretty memorable. (Everyone there already knows my orders — extra impressive because I don’t get the same thing all the time, but they know the choices I select from.)

My first thought was, “Wow, in Vienna, of all places, I’m a regular at Starbucks. Yikes.” It’s a little predictable, and a lot American. But, in thinking about it, I’ve decided I don’t mind. I like my Starbucks. It’s isn’t about the coffee — I don’t require my normal American drinks or anything (the things that I get I could get anywhere in Vienna, anyway). I do love the location — it is the only place at Michaelerplatz where you can sit outside, drink a coffee, and watch Vienna. But even more, the people there are really great. They’re friendly, they’re helpful, they let me practice my German on them, and they’re never impatient or irritable when I resort to English. They’re good at what they do, too — tour buses literally unload in front of the shop, and I’ve been impressed, on several occasions, with the skill and ease with which they deal with the orders (and the myriad languages they’re faced with).

So, I’m ok with being a predictable American who’s a regular at Starbucks in Vienna. I like it there.

Christmas comes early

Posted on November 1, 2011 by admin

Halloween is barely celebrated here, and Thanksgiving doesn’t exist. There have been beautiful advent calendars and Christmas sweaters in the shop windows for weeks, and preparations are well underway for the extensive Christmas markets that will soon be open. Unlike at home, no one is embarrassed or exasperated about it — without Halloween and Thanksgiving, there’s really no reason NOT to start the celebration of Christmas.

As if on cue, the weather here today felt like something out of Dickens (minus the snow). This evening in Vienna was cold, foggy and damp. Walking through Michaelerplatz, watching the horse drawn carriages go by, I could easily imagine the opening scenes to “A Christmas Carol”.

Our Halloween pumpkins are still in good form, but soon, it’ll be time to deck our halls, too. I’m very excited about Christmas — it’s the time of year I’m most looking forward to experiencing in Vienna. Culturally, Christmas is bound to be very different here — I suspect Austria will celebrate more religiously than I’m used to at home. And the secular icons are different, as well — they have Saint Nicholas here, rather than Santa Claus, and the Christmas tree tradition is executed differently.

I’d better find out the salient differences, because with Benjamin being in school, he’s going to hear about them. He’s has already started his mental Christmas list for Santa — and one for Liam, too — and he told me this evening that he’s concerned that Santa will be able to get in to our house, but maybe not out again. He’s planning ahead. Me too.

Halloween, Austria style

Posted on October 31, 2011 by admin

009

I love Halloween. I have so many memories of it from my childhood — picking and carving pumpkins, dressing up and going trick-or-treating, going to creepy houses, on spooky hayrides, or through haunted forests, or just staying home and giving out candy. I like it all. Benjamin has experiencesd enough of Halloweens at this point to remember it, and to look forward to it this year. So, although we really didn’t know how Austriants celebrated Hallloween, it was important to me that we do something to make the occassion.

Benjamin really wanted to go trick-or-treating, but after our first investigations, the prospects looked pretty dim. This time of year in Austria is much more about celebating fall than it is about celebrating Halloween. But, we persisted, and finally found out (through an American coworker of Dan’s) about a little bit of trick-or-treating done in Vienna. It took a while to get the details, but we finally found out exactly where to go.

So, we set about making things happen. We made treat bags for the kids (as our treat pumpkins are apparently in storage at home) and dug out costumes. Dan came home a bit early from work, and we got everyone dressed and ready and headed out. We took the tram, then took the same tram again (got a little lost), hopped on a bus, rode it out to the end, and trekked up a really big hill.

We’d been told that the houses participating in trick-or-treating would be decorated and easy to find. The first house we tried — no one home. But, we continued up the hill and came upon an entire neighborhood of homes decorated in pumpkin lights or jack-o-lanterns. By the second house, Benjamin was bounding up to the door shouting, “Trick or treat!” before the door was even opened. By the time we were through the one neighborhood, we had successfully visited about a half dozen houses. Benjamin had a fantastic time, and Liam, who was enjoying his first trick-or-treat (he slept through last year) had a great time and kept his costume on the entire time. We walked back down the hill, got on the bus, walked for a bit, got on the same bus again (not lost this time), got on the tram and came home. Then, we lit the pumpkins and had the boys try out their trick-or-treat skills here at home. It was a successful evening.

Trick-or-treating defintely seems to be an American thing: every house we went to was inhabited by Americans, and most of the trick-or-treaters we came across were English speaking. But it’s catching on here — we saw a few groups of German-speaking kids going from house to house, and a few of the houses we went to this evening had run out of candy (before 8:00), so I’m guessing that they had more people come by their houses than they did last year. We saw a few costumed kids on the way back, as well (including one little girl with quite a bucket full of treats). The Austrian kids seem to be as in to the “tricks” as the “treats” — we encountered “silly string” and shaving cream all along our route.

We didn’t really experience an Austrian Halloween — we experienced an American Halloween transplanted here. Mostly, we want to try to experience local culture while we’re here, but for today, my kids got to have their Halloween, and so did I. I’m happy we did it, even if it was a little American. We all had a good time, but Halloween is definitely something I miss about home.

Standard Time

Posted on October 30, 2011 by admin

We have Daylight Saving Time here in Austria, just like in the US, but it ends a week earlier, so we’re now 5 hours off from Eastern Time, instead of 6 . . . until next week, when we’ll be back at 6 again. (I apologize, in advance, for anyone I call or text at an inappropriate time back in the States this week.)

Theoretically, this means that we got an extra hour of sleep last night, but since Liam is simultaneously teething and congested with a cold, there was very little sleep to be had around our house last night. We will, however, be appreciating the shift in hours that the cessation of Daylight Saving Time provides — at least temporarily. The kids have been sleeping in later and later in the mornings as the sunrise gets later. This is great — it is a fantastic change from what we were experiencing in June and July: morning waking times around 5 a.m. — however, since I have a hard time making myself wake a sleeping child, we’ve ended up with some rushed (and late) mornings recently. Hopefully this will help get the kids up, and Dan to work, on time, more easily. (For a while, at least.)

I can tell, though, after just one day of this schedule, that the evenings are going to take some getting used to. By 4:30 today, dusk was starting to settle and it was truly dark by about 5:15. For trick or treating tomorrow, it’ll be perfect — nice and dark before we even go out. But dusk at 4:30 in October feels a little ominous — we have nearly 2 months of decreasing sunlight ahead of us. It’s already noticeably different than what I’m used to. The light here is beautiful — it’s like having morning or afternoon sun all day long. The sun is never quite overhead — “high” noon really isn’t.

Soon, we’ll be getting up and leaving the house in the dark; often coming home in the dark, as well. As we move further into winter at this latitude, I know that each moment of sunlight will become increasingly precious to us. We’ll be looking forward to the days of 5 a.m. sunrises very soon.

Retz

Posted on October 29, 2011 by admin

Today we took the train to a very small town called Retz, which is apparently world famous for its Pumpkin Festival. It was a long train ride which took us well beyond Vienna — we were about 5 km from the Czech border when we arrived at the Retz train station. We had a great time at the Am Himmel festival last weekend, so we thought we’d give this one (which was supposed to be bigger) a try as well. From Retz, we took a shuttle bus (three fully loaded tour buses ran every hour) to Obermarkersdorf.

It was certainly bigger. There were nearly 60 shops, kiosks and food stands, several marching bands, a couple of regular bands, floats, a carousel, a bouncy house (actually, a bouncy fire station), a pumpkin maze and (according to the brochure) over 1000 carved jack-o-lanterns (I think that’s a very conservative estimate).

The town is darling. It’s the epitome of a little Austrian town, with narrow winding streets, cute little homes and a stream running through the middle, crossed by several footbridges. In this case, the front yard and windows of each home was adorned with a pumpkin scene. The theme this year is “around the world” so each home chose a country or region of the world and decorated based on that theme. Some of the displays were stunningly elaborate. We saw the North Pole, the Orient Express (accompanied by pumpkin Japanese Lanterns), the Loch Ness (Pumpkin) Monster, a bull and a matador, the Eiffel Tower, a pumpkin blacksmith who was actually moving, a massive pumpkin pyramid, a very long pumpkin train, and a pumpkin gondolier along with his pumpkin customers — all of whom were actually in a gondola, floating in a pond.

We met up with some friends on the way, and some more when we got there, and together (and separately) tried a variety of fun (and, in most cases, pumpkin inspired) dishes. My favorites from today were small apple/pumpkin fritters, coated in powdered sugar, and also the pumpkin cappuccino. We also successfully scoured the festival for another jar of pumpkin seed pesto (because the jar we purchased last weekend is already gone).

Benjamin and I took part in several of the kid’s activities — we got through the pumpkin maze (actually a hay bale maze with pumpkins) easily and then decorated a glass lantern which we then lit and carried through the festival, hanging from the stroller. (Yet a few more for the long list of things you’d never do in the States: decorate a glass lantern with a 3 year old, light a lantern for a 3 year old, attach said lantern to the stroller and walk through a festival crowded with people.) Decorating the lantern with B was fun (he opted for lantern making over pumpkin carving) and we’ll be keeping it to use for trick or treat . . . or just late night trips in the wagon. (Liam, unfortunately, chose the time when we were in the kid’s section to sleep, so he missed out on that part.)

We had a great time. We saw lots of fun things, we ate good food, we hung out with fun friends, we did fun activities . . . and then it was time to go home. We caught the shuttle bus back to the train station . . . and then discovered that we had over an hour wait for our train. In the cold. With two kids. Who didn’t get real naps today. And were hungry.

But, amazingly, we finished our day with a great hour in the train station and a nice ride home. At the train station, Benjamin made a few friends (some adults and another kid), showed off his speed and spinning ability, and challenged the other little boy to several races back and forth. Liam practiced his walking. Once on the train, Liam took a good nap with Dan while Benjamin and I talked about our day and looked at the pictures we took. In all seriousness, the grumpiest person at the end of the day was me. My kids were amazing. They enjoyed the day enthusiastically and kept their good spirits throughout. I am amazed and impressed by them.

Retz’s renown for putting on a good Pumpkin Festival is well deserved. We all had a lovely day in the Austrian countryside and we’re all feeling thoroughly festive and geared up for Halloween.

Danke, Amigo!

Posted on October 28, 2011 by admin

There are a lot of things we’re hoping to take from this experience of living abroad — memories of travel throughout Europe, the calm confidence that comes from having conquered a massive challenge, the perspective that comes from living out of your comfort zone. And, for the kids (if not also for us) hopefully a little bit of German speaking ability.

With Benjamin being in school, I imagine that he, at least, will leave here with a good working knowledge of German. As he gets more comfortable at school, they’ll be phasing the English out and the German in, and I’m confident that he’ll pick it up. It’s amazing to me how much he’s learning already.

As much as TV is maligned when it comes to toddlers and preschoolers, I actually have to give the shows we’ve been watching a lot of the credit so far. Probably about half of the TV that Benjamin watches in a day (and he probably averages about 3-4 hours per day — I know, that’s a lot) is in German. Much as I am sheepish about the amount that he watches, I can’t deny that he’s learning something from it. He will often recite words in German that I recognize solely from the TV he watches, and he’s now showing a preference for the shows that are in German — he’ll even ask me to change the soundtrack on many of his favorite English language shows to German.

In fact, he’s picking up a surprising variety of language from TV. In addition to the German, he’s learned several words of Chinese from “Ni Hao, Kai Lan” and he’s learning Spanish from “Diego”. So far, though, his mental categories of language include “English” and an “other” that can be called German, Spanish or Chinese but which consists of all the same words. In other words, he comfortably mixes words he’s learned from each language together, and even gets frustrated with the inconsistency — the other day, he sternly told Diego on TV that the word for “pull” isn’t “jala” (Spanish) it’s “la” (Chinese).

Just today, he was telling one of his toys, “Danke, Amigo!” Not only was it impossibly cute, but it makes me hopeful for his future linguistic understanding. He’s only 3, but with learning things like this, it’s an advantage. What a souvenir to take with him when we go home — not just the ability to speak and understand German, but the confidence that it will give him to go out in the world.

A Mommy Abroad

Our big adventure, as a family of three.

Author Archives: admin